日本♡

Went to Sakura (cherry blossoms) in Shinjuku Gyoen! It’s a...

Mon, 08 Apr 2013 08:32:28 +0900

Went to Sakura (cherry blossoms) in Shinjuku Gyoen! It’s a huge park right in the middle of Tokyo. The Sakura were incredibly beautiful. It’s a Japanese tradition to go see the flowers during the spring with friends and family so many people were there!

Finally! I’m back at school! Be looking forward to pictures (now that I have stable internet...

Tue, 02 Apr 2013 16:46:20 +0900

Finally! I’m back at school! Be looking forward to pictures (now that I have stable internet :3)

So, unfortunately, I don’t have any pictures for this update but I finally finished my...

Mon, 04 Mar 2013 14:05:08 +0900

So, unfortunately, I don’t have any pictures for this update but I finally finished my internship! It was supppppeerrr tiring but incredibly fun! Everyday, I woke up at 6:45 am and got home at about 4 pm. The kids had so much energy! Honestly, I’m surprised I made it!

I don’t have any pictures because I wasn’t allowed to take them but I spent the majority of my time with 6th graders. I guess you could call it my homeroom class. I was able to meet all the grades though at least once or twice and the entire experience was very rewarding. I’m very happy I was able to do it.

Now, it’s my spring break and well, since it’s sort of long (and I need to) I plan to spend the majority of it studying. Be looking forward to my library pictures!

I’m so sorry it’s so long since I updated! This past...

Sun, 10 Feb 2013 22:20:00 +0900

I’m so sorry it’s so long since I updated! This past month has been so hectic. Finally, Winter Interim (kind of like May Term) is over! Now, it’s Spring Break! Unlike in the States, Spring break in Japan goes from Feb. to April. I guess you could call it my summer vacation :)

In two days, I will be starting an internship as an English conversation assistant at an elementary school nearby. The kids will be 10-12 years old (5th/6th graders). I’m super excited for this!

Oh right, to explain the pictures. My friends, Yuki and Ayane took a group of international students to a rice cracker factory. As you can see, there are so many flavors! I tried wasabi, chile, garlic and mayo and even chocolate! It was really good! After that, we went to a nearby shrine and walked around. It was a nice day with friends :)

this is my room at nagoya. it’s very simple and warm. the...

Sun, 16 Sep 2012 12:57:00 +0900

this is my room at nagoya. it’s very simple and warm. the floor, like some traditional japanese homes is wood so it’s often warm to step on or super cold in the morning! as you can can see, the “wall” is just a divider between the two rooms. it usually stays open so my room-mate and i can talk constantly! already, i’ve met kind friends here!

this is meji shrine near harajuku. here, it’s so quiet and...

Sun, 16 Sep 2012 12:50:00 +0900

this is meji shrine near harajuku. here, it’s so quiet and peaceful…

my day in short words: meet maichan, ate, laughed and then meet...

Wed, 12 Sep 2012 00:58:00 +0900

my day in short words: meet maichan, ate, laughed and then meet riko before she left for signapore. it was busy but fun!

took we went to akihabara, a city known for its cosplay and...

Wed, 12 Sep 2012 00:35:00 +0900

took we went to akihabara, a city known for its cosplay and electronics, oddly enough. i met with many friends including fumi and hiroyuki, students from two years ago at coe. i actually went to a maid’s cafe (where the girls dress up as maids… it was all kinds of awful. it was too expensive and weird and i’ll never go again. after that, we played games and did karoke! it was an incredible moment :3

today i went to an Arabian themed restaurant with a former...

Sun, 09 Sep 2012 12:34:00 +0900

today i went to an Arabian themed restaurant with a former exchange student from coe. it was lots of fun!!

today i went to tokyo dome! it was so exciting! i saw the giants...

Sun, 09 Sep 2012 12:07:00 +0900

today i went to tokyo dome! it was so exciting! i saw the giants play yokohama (i forgot the name of the team). even though i hate baseball, it was pretty fun to watch! the mascot is jabbit the rabbit. x] kind of catchy. after that, we went to my friend kohei’s restaurant and ate! kohei begged his way into getting us free food. xD

today i went to a macdonald’s. wow. the sizes are soooo...

Sun, 09 Sep 2012 11:59:00 +0900

today i went to a macdonald’s. wow. the sizes are soooo small. honestly, the dollar menu shake i got (shown above) was literally an american kid’s size. the cake is a traditional japamese cake. it looks so cool. today i also went to an okonomiyaki (which is a japanese pancake). i went to tomo, ruri, and helvia, all students who went to coe. it was soooo good! after that, we went to the game center. i was doing this singing and dancing game. hahaha~

today i went to asakusa! this is old time tokyo. the gate is the...

Wed, 29 Aug 2012 18:39:42 +0900

today i went to asakusa! this is old time tokyo. the gate is the entrance into asakusa. there are many shops inside! the dolls are traditional japanese toys. of course, no kids plays with them now so they are collectables! i had traditional japanese icecream, mine was watermelon flavored. yum :D after that, we went to the temple. before you can enter, you have to do the cleansing ritual. you wash the left hand then the right and then clean your mouth before cleaning the ladle for the next person. inside, we are encouraged to reflect on our life’s journey. it’s very serene. after that, we rode a rickshaw! hahaha i loved it! afterwards we went to dinner and had hiroshima style okonomiyaki (japanese pancake). yes, we had to cook it ourselves though some nice people from hiroshima helped us! lastly, as every good night should end, we went to karoke!

today i went to fuji-q highland! it’s a rollercoaster...

Wed, 29 Aug 2012 18:21:00 +0900

today i went to fuji-q highland! it’s a rollercoaster amusement park! as you can see, two of the rollercoasters hold world records! (yes, i rode them both!) i had soooo much fun here! the colorful ride is HAMTARO! i was so surprised to see it! for lunch, i ate fried pork in sauce with rice and eel and rice. it was good! i really wanna come here again!

today i went…well, everywhere. i know i’ve mentioned...

Wed, 29 Aug 2012 18:04:36 +0900

today i went…well, everywhere. i know i’ve mentioned it before the walking everywhere thing is a big lifestyle change. for example, today i wanted to take the bus and my friend yuki thought he knew where the station was but actually he didn’t. we ended up walking 4 miles to the next train station… x] in the end, we made it. we went to lunch at a beach bungalow looking kind of place. from there, we went to the tokyo metropolitan building. the views from it. up there, there are many toy shops! the two characters are some of the most popular in japan! japan is so beautiful, truly.

i realized i hadn’t explained one the places i frequent...

Sun, 26 Aug 2012 10:23:00 +0900

i realized i hadn’t explained one the places i frequent the most! the train stations!in tokyo unless you’re pretty wealthy, you don’t have a car. therefore, everyone gets around by using the train. the pictures are of the station. in the station, there are all kinds of food, clothes, really, it looks a mall. i took the train for the first by myself from one station to the next and it was still nerve racking!

this is hitomi’s home, a japanese student who came to coe...

Tue, 21 Aug 2012 17:34:00 +0900

this is hitomi’s home, a japanese student who came to coe last year. it a normal japanese home. all the wood inside is absolutely beautiful. it’s very open and smells of tea. i felt i was living in a kind of treehouse with all the high beams and stairs.

after leaving harajuku, we went to saitama for another fireworks...

Tue, 21 Aug 2012 17:32:48 +0900

after leaving harajuku, we went to saitama for another fireworks festival! i enjoyed this one much more because i was able to wear a yukata (japanese traditional female dress) and eat traditonal festival foods. the first is hiroshima okonomiyaki, a kind of japanese pancake with egg, meat and cabbage. the send was takoyaki, which is sort of like fried squid. they were both very delicious as the fireworks were beautiful!

today i went to harajuku with hitomi! it was well, weird and...

Tue, 21 Aug 2012 17:17:00 +0900

today i went to harajuku with hitomi! it was well, weird and fashionable and busy and hot and yeah, i had tons of fun though! there are tons of different shops filled with things i’m not sure i would ever buy. :P it’s really fun to see though and especially meet some of the people who work there (i.e. the girl with me in the picture.) i also found that sometimes pictures aren’t always welcome but not understanding japanese makes you kinda exempt from some rules. hahaha. oh! there was this crepe stand. oh my goodness. there were so many different flavors. inside them, they put cakes and icecream and all sorts of goodness. i got a strawberry cheesecake one myself. it was so good!

things you only see in japan. this huge statue is right out of...

Tue, 21 Aug 2012 16:52:04 +0900

things you only see in japan. this huge statue is right out of the sky tower. honestly, it’s terrifying! it really is a giant spider!

as i’ve said before, japan is super organized. no doubt...

Tue, 21 Aug 2012 00:00:00 +0900

as i’ve said before, japan is super organized. no doubt this applies to the supermarket which i love going to! people are extremely friendly and helpful. they also say alot of things. i’ve gotten used to it though. it translates out to being:

” hi, thanks for shopping with us. blahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblah. your total is xxx 円。do you want a bag? have a good day!

those are real grapes! (they’re also super expensive). the colorful snack is gift for ancestors. this past weekend, it is said that many ancestors return home so this is a sort of welcoming home snack for them.